The table below shows built up beams for 31 3 psf of snow loading.
I beam roof structure.
A structural ridge beam is a horizontal beam placed at the peak or ridge of a roof and is designed to carry much of the live and dead loads or weight of the roof structure by itself.
The bottom half is carried by the exterior bearing walls.
A newer type of beam than the more traditional materials a composite roof beam can be made from several different materials to make the beam lighter and stronger and less prone to rotting warping or cracking.
The loads on the ridge beam are carried by vertical posts at the beam ends down through the building structural walls to the building foundation.
Typically the roof beam is made by nailing together a few pieces of dimensional lumber.
Most i beams use structural steel but some are made from aluminum.
The load from the top half of the roof is carried by the bearing wall or structural ridge.
An i beam also known as h beam for universal column uc w beam for wide flange universal beam ub rolled steel joist rsj or double t especially in polish bulgarian spanish italianand german is a beamwith an ior h shaped cross section.
Once again you will need to look at your local charts and use your local snow load factor to determine the maximum span for a given wood rafter size.
The shape of the flanges and the web create an i or an h cross section.
Sample maximum roof beam span table feet inches.
The shape and structure of the i beam the i beam consists of two horizontal planes known as flanges connected by one vertical component or the web.